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Weather Talk: Calmest time of year for winds

The Great Plains, in general, is windy because there is very little surface terrain to slow the wind down. Also, here in the Northern Plains, the Polar Jet Stream is usually nearby and so we have a near-constant barrage of varying low and high pressure systems which keeps the air pressure in a state of flux.

However, we are in the least windy time of the year. Several days recently have been noticeably calm. July and August have the lowest average wind speeds of the year, just over 10 mph. This is much lower than the average wind speed in April of almost 14 mph.

It is somewhat ironic, but mid-summer is also when most of our strongest wind speeds on record have occurred. But thunderstorm winds are quick and fleeting. The average wind is generally quite light this time of year.